PM meeting with Tenaris in Argentina led to reopening of local tube mill, says Sheehan

A speech made today by MP Terry Sheehan has shed new light on the influence Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had in bringing the local tube mill back into production.

A December meeting between Trudeau and the global CEO of Tenaris led to Tenaris Algoma Tubes resuming production and the recalling of 303 laid off employees, said MP Terry Sheehan at this morning’s Chamber of Commerce breakfast.

In the fall, when Algoma Tenaris Tubes was not in production, Sheehan said the mill was operating with only a skeleton crew.

“There were at about 68 people there — they call it the rat patrol. They go around and make sure the lights are on and kill the rats,” said Sheehan.

At that time, Sheehan said, he was approached by management from Tenaris’ Canadian operations.

“They came to see me and said, ‘listen…Tenaris is a global operation. We have operations all around the world. The market is down, but Paulo (Rocca) — the global CEO — is going to do a restart somewhere in the world and we want Sault Ste. Marie to be that spot.’” 

“They said to me, we will do the limited restart if you guarantee me that the meeting will happen,” added Sheehan.

The prime minister can receive 1,000 or more requests per day for meetings, said Sheehan.

“(The prime minister) is in high demand, but I was able to have a conversation with him and point out the importance of this meeting and he agreed,” said Sheehan.

Sheehan informed Tenaris of the commitment and soon after, 125 employees began a limited production.

Since then, the number employees of Tenaris Algoma Tubes returning to work has steadily increased.

Cody Alexander, president of United Steelworkers Local 9548, said 303 workers were recalled to the tube mill, with hiring by the company bringing the current number of employees to 435.

Alexander said a total of 540 employees were laid off, he estimates about 45 per cent of that original workforce has moved on.

“A lot of guys found really good jobs, because Essar (Steel Algoma) was hiring during 2015,” said Alexander.

Others, he said, took lower-paying jobs that were more stable.

Tenaris Algoma Tubes operations manager Jorge Mitre said today the face-to-face between Trudeau and Rocca was instrumental in the Sault Ste. Marie mill resuming production.

“I wouldn’t say if that meeting didn’t happen we wouldn’t start — but I will say it was very important,” said Mitre.

Low oil prices and dumping of unfairly priced imports of pipe have been named as conditions which led Tenaris Algoma Tubes to cease production and lay off much of its workforce.

Trudeau and Rocca met in December in Argentina.

“They had a great conversation. They talked about dumping and the need for trade remedies. They talked about pipelines and the needs for approvals,” said Sheehan, who said he was briefed on the meeting.

About two weeks late, Trudeau announced the government of Canada’s support for two pipeline projects.

“From 68 to 500 (employees) and they told me that meeting with the prime minister was critical, that the approval of the pipelines was important,” said Sheehan.

Mitre said he is encouraged by current market conditions and the local mill is in the process of ramping up production.

“We started late last year with modest production, but we have seen our activity growing every day. I think we are close to reaching a stable point,” said Mitre.

“In regards of capacity, I think the mill is capable to produce more but we will need to see how the market evolves,” he added.

Alexander said contract negotiations between Tenaris and Local 9548 begin next week, with the current contract expiring May 31.

“Hopefully we get a fair contract before then,” said Alexander.

In addition, manufacturing has resumed at a Tenaris facility in Calgary which halted operations in 2015.

Confidence in the market and in the government’s support of the industry has led directly to the company resuming Canadian operations, said Mitre.

The Calgary operation compliments the work done at Tenaris Algoma Tubes, said Mitre.

“They do things we don’t do and vice-versa. We are not competing—on the contrary, they give us the opportunity to increase our offer to the local market,” he said.